At least 57 al-Shabab fighters were killed after African Union (AU) and Somali forces attacked one of the armed group's camps in the southern region of Juba, according to the AU's peacekeeping mission in Somalia (AMISOM).

In a post on Twitter, AMISOM said that vehicles and equipment were destroyed in Thursday's morning assault on the al-Shabab base outside Afmadow, a town about 100km inland from the Somali port of Kismayo.

The AU force said "a large cache of weapons" had also been captured in the operation, which was backed by helicopter gunships.